Business Wire

Align Partners Sends Second Public Shareholder Letter to Coway, Urging Announcement of Revised Value-up Plan by January 30, 2026

Share

Align Partners Capital Management Inc. (“Align Partners”), a shareholder of Coway Co., Ltd. (“Coway”) since 2023 holding more than 4% of the Company’s outstanding shares through funds it manages or advises, announced that it has sent a second public shareholder letter to Coway’s Board of Directors. The letter calls for measures to address the company’s chronic undervaluation and enhance shareholder value. Align Partners has requested that Coway announce a revised corporate Value-up Plan reflecting these proposals by January 30, 2026.

In the letter, Align Partners assessed Coway’s February 2025 plan as insufficient to address Coway’s persistent undervaluation and urged the Board to incorporate seven measures: (1) clear mid-to-long-term valuation and ROE targets with execution plans; (2) clarified and strengthened target capital structure policy; (3) updated shareholder return policy reflecting both the target capital structure policy and new dividend income tax separation regime; (4) enhanced investor relations disclosures; (5) board independence reforms; (6) measures to address conflicts of interest between controlling and minority shareholders; and (7) stronger alignment between executive compensation and share price performance.

Despite Coway’s strong operating performance and leading market position, the Company’s valuation remains meaningfully below historical levels. Align Partners attributes this undervaluation primarily to an inefficient capital structure and reduced shareholder returns following Netmarble’s acquisition. Align Partners also noted that Coway has financed finance lease driven working capital growth largely through retained earnings accumulated by scaling back shareholder returns, rather than through lower-cost debt. These capital allocation decisions, according to Align Partners, reflect deeper structural governance issues, including insufficient board independence.

Changhwan Lee, CEO of Align Partners, stated that the second public shareholder letter is intended to encourage Coway to establish a structural framework that enables a return to normalized valuation levels and supports sustainable long-term growth.

More information is available at www.alignpartnerscap.com

About Align Partners

Align Partners is a Korea-focused investment firm led by CEO Changhwan Lee, leveraging private equity and investment banking expertise to drive sustainable growth and address the “Korea discount.”

https://www.alignpartnerscap.com/en/

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251215625655/en/

Contacts

Wooseok Choi
coway_valueup@alignpartnerscap.com
+82-2-6956-8033

(c) 2024 Business Wire, Inc., All rights reserved.

Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is the global leader in multiplatform press release distribution.

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

1GLOBAL Empowers Revolut to Offer Mobile Plans in Poland16.12.2025 13:04:00 CET | Press Release

1GLOBAL, a technology-driven global mobile communications provider, strengthens its partnership with Revolut, expanding the leading neobank’s mobile data plan offering to the Polish market. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251216769985/en/ 1GLOBAL strengthens its partnership with Revolut, expanding the leading neobank’s mobile data plan offering to the Polish market. By integrating 1GLOBAL’s eSIM capability into its multi-service app, Revolut’s customers in Poland who signed up to the waitlist can now enjoy bundled mobile plans that include competitively priced domestic data plans starting at zł 25 per month (approx. €6.00 per month) with unlimited calls and texts in Poland and the EU, in just a few taps. For 1GLOBAL, this expansion marks another milestone in the company’s embedded telco services strategy. The services are trusted by more than 4,000 corporate partners across a variety of industries including fi

Dompé Doses First Patients in Europe and US in Phase 3 Study of Isocyclosporin for Atopic Keratoconjunctivitis16.12.2025 13:00:00 CET | Press Release

Dompé, a leading biopharmaceutical company with operations in Italy and the U.S., announced the first patients have been enrolled in a Phase 3 study of Isocyclosporin for the treatment of atopic keratoconjunctivitis (AKC). Isocyclosporin is a dual inhibitor of transient receptor potential (TRP) cation channel, mucolipin subfamily, member 2 (TRPML2) and calcineurin, key regulators of immune and inflammatory response in chronic inflammatory eye diseases. The Phase 3 trial is a multicenter, randomized, double-masked study comparing isocyclosporin against vehicle control in improving ocular signs and symptoms after six weeks of treatment. “This milestone underscores Dompé’s commitment to groundbreaking science with the potential for life-changing patient impact,” said Marcello Allegretti, Chief Scientific Officer at Dompé. “The dual mechanism of isocyclosporin has the potential to redefine treatment and quality of life for patients living with poorly managed AKC. It also marks an important

Visa Launches Stablecoin Settlement in the United States, Marking a Breakthrough for Stablecoin Integration16.12.2025 13:00:00 CET | Press Release

Visa Inc. (V) today announced the launch of USDC settlement in the United States, marking a major milestone in the company’s stablecoin settlement pilot program and strategy to modernize its settlement layer underpinning global commerce. For the first time, U.S. issuer and acquirer partners can settle with Visa in Circle’s USDC, a fully reserved, dollar-denominated stablecoin. With USDC settlement, issuers can benefit from faster funds movement over blockchains, seven‑day availability and enhanced operational resilience across weekends and holidays - without any change to the consumer card experience. Initial banking participants include Cross River Bank and Lead Bank, which have started settling with Visa in USDC over the Solana blockchain. Broader availability in the U.S. is planned through 2026. Additionally, Visa is a design partner for Arc, a new Layer 1 blockchain developed by Circle (currently in public testnet). Arc’s purpose-built design offers the performance and scalability

Volante Technologies Customers Successfully Navigate Critical Regulatory Deadlines for EU SEPA Instant and Global SWIFT Cross-Border Payments16.12.2025 10:00:00 CET | Press Release

Volante Technologies, the global leader in Payments as a Service (PaaS), today announced it has successfully upgraded its clients to meet the latest SEPA Instant Payments Regulation (IPR) and SWIFT SRG 2025 mandate, which came into effect October 9th and November 22nd, 2025, respectively. This announcement follows the major FedISO upgrade in July, which shifted trillions of dollars in payments to the new ISO 20022 messaging format. SEPA IPR is a significant European milestone, requiring payments to be made within 10 seconds and at any time of day, throughout the year. Adoption was mandatory and Eurozone banks were compelled to meet strict deadlines, with January 9th, 2025 the deadline for receiving incoming instant payments and October 9th the deadline for sending outgoing instant payments. The latest deadline impacted more than 700 banks across Europe, with non-compliance penalties reaching at least 10% of annual net turnover. SWIFT SRG 2025 is another seismic update, representing the

TreeFrog Therapeutics Announces Changes to Executive Committee With the Arrival of Mark Rothera as Chief Executive Officer & Board Member to Spearhead Next Phase of Growth16.12.2025 09:05:00 CET | Press Release

TreeFrog Therapeutics, a French biotech focused on bringing regenerative medicine to millions through their proprietary cell technology, C-Stem™ is delighted to announce the appointment of skilled biotech leader, Mark Rothera, as Chief Executive Officer and Board member. He succeeds Frédéric Desdouits, who is stepping down after five years in the role. In the new leadership configuration, co-founders Kévin Alessandri and Maxime Feyeux will transition from daily operations to focus on their roles on the Board. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251215145193/en/ Mark Rothera, CEO TreeFrog Therapeutics Elsy Boglioli, Chair of the Board of TreeFrog Therapeutics, commented “On behalf of the Board, we are delighted to welcome Mark to TreeFrog. His 30+ years of biopharma leadership, including most recently, three biotech CEO roles in gene therapy and biologics, will be invaluable as we advance our Parkinson’s and liver

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye